The Pomona-Pitzer women’s tennis team went up against the Occidental College Tigers on Saturday, Feb. 4, in their season opening meet. From the very first point, the Sagehens came out strong, delivering an impressive performance and dominating the Tigers in every aspect of the game.
The raucous cheers of a tightly knit team encouraged each player to leave their heart out on the court, as the Sagehens swept the Tigers 9-0 at the Pauley Tennis Complex in Claremont, California.
The Sagehens are currently ranked No. 6 in Division III and have a long-standing tradition of excellence. This season will be no different, as the precision athletes of the P-P women’s tennis team fine-tune their skills and fight to the top.
The Sagehens have been putting in long hours of practice on the court in preparation for the season. Arianna Chen PO ’19 recounts how her team has been preparing for the long season ahead of them. Chen said her team “fought hard until the end and [is] really proud of [the] girls.” She said that “in future meets, [we] would like to increase the intensity on and off court.”
The Sagehens have been polishing every aspect of their gameplay. Their effort shows in their large margin of victory, and a run for the national championships is not out of the question.
Chen and her teammates showed such drive throughout the doubles matches, as Chen and partner Caroline Casper PO ’19 won their match 8-0 in doubles play. In the fall season, Casper had a fourth place finish in the ITA Oracle Cup singles championship.
Victories were also earned by partners Yurie Heard PO ’20 and Mae Coyiuto PO ’17 with a score of 8-1, and partners Maddie Gordon PO ’17 and Lucy Jiang PO ’19 with a score of 8-1.
Singles victories for the day included Chen, Jiang, Shivani Doraiswami PO ’18, Emily Chen PO ’19, Yurie Heard PO ’20, and Maddie Gordon PO ’19.
Casper said that after the matches, her team is “excited to compete against some of the best teams in the country, especially at ITA national indoors tournament and the NCAA tournament” at the end of the season. Casper believes they are a team “with the potential to win multiple national championships” by winning one match at a time. Such a goal is easily within their reach as the team overflows with talent, including Casper, one of five athletes on the team who was a 2016 NCAA All-American.
The Sagehens brought an unbridled intensity to the courts. Mallory Roth PZ ’17 describes how “the energy that everyone brought both on and off the court definitely helped the team focus throughout the match,” contributing to an overall impressive win.
The Sagehens also dropped a close match to the Division II No. 24 California State University, Los Angeles Eagles. While the Sagehens fought long and hard, they came up just short with a score of 5-4.
The Sagehens will next host the Chapman University Panthers on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Pauley Tennis Courts.
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